I mention Colby's siblings in this story and they are different from my other stories, but just deal with it. Also, this story is cheesy and slightly cliche and again just deal with it.
Colby woke up to heat rising from the floor and scorning the bare soles of his feet. He snapped his feet up off the ground and rolled back onto the bed. Then he felt the heat from the wall and started to panic. What the heck is going on? he thought.
Realizing he needed to get out there as quickly as possible, he stopped thinking and ran for the door, his feet still burning with every step he took. The fire felt like it was stealing his breath and trying to suffocate him. Selfish jerk he thought You cannot have all the oxygen.
He opened the door to his apartment and looked out into the hallway. If it was possible the air there was even hotter and Colby felt like the heat of the sun had been redirected onto his apartment building. He realized that no one else had even woken up. What? How do people not realize the building is burning down? Can't they feel the superheated air burning their lungs?
He ran down the hallways, knocking on doors and screaming for people to wake up. He forget about his feet and continued to get people out of the building. They finally run out, whacking into him and getting him completely turned around. The smoke is to getting my head. What Colby did not realize was that he had banged his head as the people rushed past him. They had knocked him against the wall.
Colby kept trying to get people out; it was a huge building and there were dozens of residents on each floor. The task of warning them all was daunting and nerve racking. Colby suddenly wished David was there to watch his back and help him out. It felt strange to be in a dangerous situation without his partner. Colby turned the corner and was met with a strange sight. There was a German Shepherd puppy sitting on the floor, just staring at him with these huge eyes. It felt wrong that this puppy be in the middle of the chaos, but Colby reached forward to grab him and run downstairs. The building had other plans and the floor chose that exact moment to collapse.
The floor just dropped out and Colby remembering falling endlessly before he blacked out.
David woke up to a much more pleasant scene. Today was supposed to be a relaxing day; his first day off since...he did not actually remember the last day he had all to himself without a murderer to chase or kidnapped child to save. He sat on the couch and stared at the wall. They complained constantly about never having any time off, but as soon as they got a rare day off, they had no idea what to do with it. All his days for the past four years had centered around fighting crime. His closest friends were his team. He didn't really have a social circle outside the FBI office, which if he thought about it too long, was just depressing. Even Colby had friends from the military and family he could go visit on his off days. David's family was not exactly itching to see him and he did not have close friends from his time before the FBI. David never wanted to go into combat, but he envied the friendships had been forged in the heat of battle. Those guys could read each other's minds and knew the other's plans without even sharing a glance. He stopped himself from thinking like this. If you were a little more open with your emotions and did not force people to break down your walls just to get to know you, you would have more friends. It took David a long time to form deep friendships, as most of the people who he grew up with were criminals and would backstab you at the first opportunity. Not the type of people you trusted with your emotions. Colby was one of the first people he felt comfortable with, comfortable enough to let down the walls.
Back at Colby's apartment, the walls continued to crumble around the unconscious FBI agent, trapping him in the room of fire and blocking possible escape routes. The puppy, still somehow unharmed, managed to crawl over to Colby and started to lick his face. Colby groaned at the contact; every muscle in his body hurt and his bones felt like they were melting. Colby went to move his legs to climb out of the basement he had fallen into, but he did not realize the beams from the ceiling had landed on his legs and trapped him under the burning pile of rumble. The boards directly on top of him were not burning but the fire was traveling down the stack and it would reach him soon.
It took a minute for his smoke filled brain to start functioning again. Finally he thought "Well if you can not go up, go down". He shifted his weight to look at the boards below him and realized they were more loosely stacked that the ones above him. Well he thought, I broke the board's fall. He could not decided whether that was funny or massively depressing. The puppy stared at him with those big eyes and Colby wondered why this dog was still here. Why had not the dog bailed the second he smelled the smoke, felt the floor burning underneath him?
Colby's train of thought switched back to the problem of escaping. He figured that if he can dig around five feet down, the sides of the hole would be tall enough to support the mess above him and give him enough room to maneuver without banging anything and creating a landslide of burning debris. Just the thought of being even more deeply made him shudder and he forced his brain to stop imagining the worse. He could only use his right arm as he had to hold the pile with his other hand to ensure the shifting did not disrupt the delicate balance and make the whole thing collapse. His hand started to get hot as the fire ate up the cheap floor of the apartment. He dug faster and could feel the wood breaking in his hand and giving away. He finally removed the piece that was pinning his legs from below. A wave of pain hit his left leg. He slid out of the hole he had dug and went to stand up but his left leg refused to support any weight. He reached down to grab the wall before he remembered that the wall was on fire too.
He eventually spotted a chair leg with minimal damage and used that as a crutch to hop out into the hallway. The floor there was made of concrete. The fire chased him, tracing designs on the walls as it devoured his home and destroyed his possessions. He forced himself to stop thinking about all the personal items he would lose and concentrated on walking faster than the fire. He reached the door that led to the outside and pushed it open.
The sun greeted his face and the fresh air comforted the raw feeling in his throat. He walked a few short steps before the adrenaline rush gave in and he was consumed by the darkness again.
Back in his apartment, David decided to stop pitying himself and do something even that something was a passive activity like watching tv. He grabbed the remote and turned the tv on. The news channel popped up and he stared at the flames that covered the screen then the screen switched back to the reporter who said "And the fire at Market and William continues to grow with every passing moment after starting early this morning. The exact source is unknown, but survivors say an unidentified man knocked on their door and screamed at them to get out, saving their lives".
David smiled, glad that some people escaped the blaze, thinking that warning people to get out was something Colby would do. This made him sit up straight and say out loud "That sounds exactly like something Colby would do''. The realization spurred movement and David started running from room to room finding his keys, his phone and at the last second remembering to grab his FBI ID so they would let him on site. He rushed to to his car, already dialing Colby's number, praying his partner would answer the phone.
The phone just rang and rang and with each ring David's heart sank. Darn it Colby just answer the phone and tell me you are not trapped somewhere in that mess. After five attempts without a response, David called Don, at this point just needing to talk to any member of his team. Don answered right away and David could hear him laughing with his brother. "Well at least someone is enjoying their day off".
Don looked at his home and saw David's number. If his team was calling him on their day off after nagging him about never giving them time off, something must be wrong. Unfortunately he was right and before he could even say hello, David started shouting at him "Colby…. fire… news...idiot… so stupid...why man...why does he have to be so darn noble...really he will give us all a heart attack... the stress of having him around...oh I shouldn't say that..….
"David" yelled Don yelled before the man could work himself into more of a tailspin "What is going on?'' David just stayed silent at first then he shouted "Meet me at Colby's apartment" and hung up.
Charlie had stopped laughing and was staring at the confused look on Don's face. Finally Don put the phone down and went to look for his keys, saying "Come on Charlie we need to go to Colby's apartment. For some reason, David is freaking out, we need to figure out why".
Don started the car and drove to his agent's apartment. As the boss, it was his job to know where all his agents were at all times, meaning he had memorized all their addresses a long time ago. The scene he met outside Colby's apartment was horrifying. The building had been completely torched. Don quickly found David as he was racing around, trying to demand answers out of people. With Charlie following behind him, Don found the chief and asked what was going on. The chief responded "Don't know. Just got here, but we are trying to locate everyone". He looked at Don and seeing his badge, continued "Is it safe to assume that frantic agent over there is your man?''. Don saw David was still running around like a madman and said "Yup, one of my agents, his partner, lives in this building''. "Well" said the chief "We are still finding people and are searching the floors so I will tell you when I know something''.
Don quickly shook the chief's hand, thanking him and ran over to David to keep him from running into the building and looking for Colby. David's face looked wild, unusually for the calm agent.
Don ordered him to stop moving saying "You're just getting the way. Let the firefighters do their job''. David ignored him and ran around the side of the building, stopping suddenly. Don knew something horrible had shocked him into stillness and he felt panic in his throat. Colby. A quick sprint to David's side confirmed his fears as he saw Colby laying on the floor with his eyes shut tight. Strangely a puppy was sitting next to him almost as if he was guarding him. Don shook his head and carefully approached David who was walking towards Colby with a blank expression on his face as if he could not believe what he was seeing and his brain had shut down. Don kept getting closer and saw the burners covering Colby's arms and the odd angle of his leg.
I need to find that fire chief and get my agent to the hospital. Before he could move, however Charlie was running back with two paramedics. They ignored Don and ran to Colby, shoving David out of the way too. Seeing both Don and David were too much in shock to be much help in the situation, Charlie started to talk to paramedics. This for some reason shocked David into action and he ran to catch up to the paramedics as they loaded his partner into the nearest ambulance.
This is so much worse than I imagined. Geez. Why does my partner always to get himself injured? Colby's skin looked broken as the burns spread up his arms.
Colby was barely aware of the change in setting. Opening his eyes hurt so much he did not want to try and figure it out. His leg and his feet and hands ached.
Finally, the suspense got to him and he peeled his eyes open, and stared at the person on his right. His vision was frustratingly blurry but he could tell it was David because he did not have hair and he had a grim look on his face; the same look David got whenever Colby got hurt. Colby wanted to talk to him, but his throated still ached and his head really hurt. He figured he could talk later and let his eyes flutter closed again.
David noticed his partner's eyes open briefly, then close again. His already sky high worry increased again and he yelled to the driver "How much longer?''. The driver noticing the concern on his face responded "We are two minutes out. A trauma team is standing by''.
When the ambulance, pulled up the hospital, David was pushed aside as the doctors took over and rolled Colby away almost before David could process their movement.
He tried to follow the men but the nurses pushed into a waiting room and told him in a stern tone to stay put until a doctor was available to speak with him. He sat down in a chair and waited and in all his spare time, he thought about Colby.
Their partnership might not had been forged in the deserts taking down enemy soldiers, but they been connected by the long hours in the quiet on a stakeout, waiting for a dumb criminal to make a mistake and incriminate himself. They had bonded over the stupid paperwork and had formed tricks to get the through the endlessly 302 forms. They learned each other's strengthens and learned to cover each other, avoiding death every time they took down a criminal before the criminals could take them down. David learned that Colby slipped into his military shorthand when he was exhausted and his brain was overtaxed. He learned to interpret all the signs Colby made and trusted Colby to watch his six, knowing without a doubt that Colby would never let the bad guy shoot first. He could not lost that partnership. He needed that doctor to come back and say Colby was fine.
Don showed up at the hospital and saw David sitting on the ground staring at his hands, deep in thought and Don did not even bother to ask a nurse what was going on. If David still looked this depressed, there was no news.
Colby was aware of another change in scenery. The ground had stopped moving and his head hurt less. But then he went to move, he couldn't. His skin ached and just the small effort to sit up stole his breath and caused the pain to burn along his arms. The air smelled fresh, but the room was too dark. Before he could think anymore on that topic, he passed out again.
The doctor dread talking to the other FBI agents. Agent Granger had a long road ahead of him and the recovery would not be pretty. He told a deep breath and started to talk as Agent Sinclair looked up at him.
"Agent Granger has a compound fracture in his left leg and that will need surgical attention, but the surgery has increased risk because his leg is also covered in burns, making the risk of infection much higher. The burns on his arms are superficial and should heal without too much scarring but they are first degree burns so they will hurt a lot''.
The look on Agent Sinclair's face stopped the doctor and made him choose his next words more carefully. "His lungs are filled with smoke so we have him in a high oxygen room that helps the lung tissue regenerate. However, I expect all those injuries to heal without any permanent damage. I am most worried about his head injury. He must have banged his head, hard, at some point because he had a severe concussion and it appears most of the swelling is on the back of his head, making me worry about his vision. We will have to run tests when he wakes up, but I can not sure his vision will be a hundred percent right away. Usually with this types of injuries, the vision eventually comes back".
David had heard enough and stopped listening to the doctor. His partner could not be this injured, could he? Finally the doctor shut up with the medical diagnosis and said one person could wait in the gallery outside Colby's room until he woke up. David moved to follow the doctor without thinking about Don. Colby was his partner.
Don watched David's back retreat down the hall and tried to progress all the information they had just been given. Could Colby come back from this one?
The wait was the worse part and with each hour that passed David grew more and more depressed and if Colby did not wake up soon, he was sure he would lost his mind. Finally, finally, finally, after two and a half days of sitting outside Colby's room, his lungs recovered enough to be moved a normal room and David could actually see his partner's injuries for the first time. His leg surgery had been scheduled for that afternoon as long as his breathing stayed steady. Knowing that Colby would knocked out for the surgery and would take a few hours in surgery, David finally let himself fall asleep.
Colby slowly came back to consciousness and tried to open his eyes. They would not open. At all. He started to move his hand to his face and noticed his hand felt heavy and his fingers were stuck together. Desperately needing an explanation for all these limitations, he mumbled under his breath, waking up David who sat straight up when he saw his partner was awake. "Hey you are fine''. Colby stilled briefly then apparently disagreeing with that statement, waved his hand in the air.
David saw this confusion and hurried to explain. " Your apartment caught on fire and you were trapped. Somehow, you made it outside and the paramedics found you and now you are in the hospital. You broke your leg and got some burns, all of which the doctors assure me will heal just fine but….''. Colby braced himself for worst news, knowing David would tell him that last.
"You have been unconscious for about three days and the doctors are worried about the injury to your head. That is why you have the bandages around your head. They are on forehead.. The said you could them so you could also aid you banged your head so do not be too frustrated if your vision is blurry. They mentioned running more tests once you wake up".
Colby tried to respond but his throat was too dry. He just grimaced and accepted the water David held up for him to drink. Even after that, talking hurt a lot.
This was the David was really dreading. Knowing that his vision would take a few weeks to heal would drive Colby crazy and put a dent in his self confidence. He hated being injured and having people take care of him.
"Yea" David continued "Mostly fine as in they will heal".
"David" Colby growled " Tell me exactly what is going on!"
David, sensing the anger and not wanting to piss Colby off or worry him even more about his condition said "Your hit the back of your head, which controls the vision, and because there is swelling, it will take a while before your vision is completely back to normal".
"A while?" Colby asked "What does that mean David?".
Looking Colby sitting with the bandages on made David more unsettled and he signed. "Let me go find the doctor and he will know what to do".
Colby heard David leave and hoped finding the doctor did not take too long. Lying alone in the dark with all the half-explanations was not fun. In fact, the darkness, however temporary, freaked Colby out.
David called Don and told him that Colby had woken up. David listened to Don say he was on his way over. Don had been surprisingly lenient in giving him time off to stay at the hospital, which revealed how worried he was about both his agents.
After circling the halls what felt like a hundred times, David managed to locate the doctor and drag him back to Colby's room.
Colby heard someone enter the room and then David said "Colby this is Dr. Fields".
Dr. Fields continued to say "Agent Granger, I am going to take off the bandages, as the stitches on the back of your head are somewhat healed and do not need to be covered as thoroughly any more".
Colby nodded, thinking "And why has this guy not mentioned my eyes?"
The light hurt Colby's eyes but he definitely was not blind. He narrowed his eyes and saw David looking back at him with a look of relief on his face. Colby just rolled, his eyes, which hurt, and tried to clear his vision. He could tell who was who, but him could not make out the finer details of their faces or see more than about seven feet in front of him.
Dr. Fields said "The vision will come back eventually, but try not to stress your eyes too much so you will not exacerbate the injuries. We also need to take you for another CT scan to check on the concussion".
Colby glared at David. "You did not say I had a concussion". David smirked "It is hard to keep track of all your injuries, man". Colby just maintained to keep from rolling his eyes again.
Don came into the hospital and was greeted by a much happy David, who grinned and said, "Granger is already wake enough to annoy me". This was like music to Don's ears.
Then David got more serious and asked "What do I say when Colby asks about the apartment or his stuff? Most of the stuff in his apartment is destroyed".
Don paused and said "Well most of the important stuff, like photos and that fishing thing from his dad are on his desk at work and we can track down some of his army buddies and see if they can make copies of any of his military photos. The rest...I do not know".
They walked silently back to Colby's room and waited for him to get back.
Dr. Fields came back about 30 minutes with Colby and said "His concussion does not appear to be causing that much damage, but I need to keep in the hospital for a few more days to monitor his vision and his lungs".
Colby had fallen back asleep and Don decided to stay until he woke up on his own. They had a crazy case load as usual, but it was the end of the week and he could afford to stay at the hospital for a couple hours.
Within the next few days, Colby's vision recovered slowly and on the next Thursday he released.
It felt like quite a victory wheeling himself out of the hospital without crashing into a single person. David laughed at him as he stood on his right leg to get in the car.
Then he noticed they were not heading to his house and "Hey, David, was the fire at my house so destructive, I can not even stay there?".
David glanced at his partner and said "Yea, Colby your place is much destroyed. You need to move somewhere else". "So, all my stuff is gone too?"
"Yea. No one has been allowed back into your place, but the fire burned pretty hot. Sorry, man I do not think that much survived".
Colby's good mood faded; he was quiet on the rest of the trip back to David's apartment. Colby was staying in his guest room until he found his own place.
They got out of the car and Colby managed to hop to the elevator with his crutches. They walked in and David asked " Hey so you are supposed to eat with your pills, what do you want for lunch?"
Colby just mumbled "whatever" under his breath and sat down on the couch. David stepped into the kitchen to make sandwiches and call Don. "We need to find replaces for the photos in his apartment because he is tore up about losing his stuff".
Don replied "I already talked to someone named Lt. James Michaels, who served all his tours with Colby and he said he would send copies of everything he had. I have not called any of his family because I do not really know them. His mother is still alive, but I do not think he has ever told me about siblings".
David glanced into the living room and saw Colby was not listening to them talk. "I know he has two older brothers, but beyond that he does not talk about them. I always got the sense they were not close after their dad died. We should let Colby decide if he wants to call them". "Okay" replied Don and he stayed on the phone for a second as if he did not know what to say. "Yea me too Don. What are you supposed to a man whose house burned down?".
Don replied confidently "You do not need to say anything. Just be there. We both know Colby values people more than things".
David hung up the phone and carried the sandwiches back to the living room and saw Colby staring off into space, but not looking overwhelming depressed. "Maybe Don was right. Maybe the stuff really does not matter as long as he is okay and he has the team".
The next couple days passed in relative quiet, David going to the office every morning and bringing home paperwork every night. On the fourth day, Colby had gotten so bored that he helped David do paperwork. Kinda. His vision had gotten much better as the swelling had gone down, but his hands were still a little too burnt to write for long periods of time. The doctor had been right; the burns were healing quickly but they were painful. Most of the time, Colby sat on the couch so he did not have to put pressure on the burns on the soles of his feet.
After about a week and a half Colby asked "Hey do you think they would let me back into my apartment. I feel like I need to go there before I start looking for a new place. I also need to see what I can salvage from the wreckage".
David was hesitant, but he had been waiting for this question. "Yea we can go back. I talked to your landlord, who said the structure is solid enough for you to go back and gather up your stuff. We can go this weekend if you want. We have to wait until Don will give me another day off so I can help carry your stuff".
"David, I hate being a burden and taking up your time. Do not you have better things to be doing?"
"Like what man? Seriously, I have zero social life and it is not like I have a dog or something to walk".
"Hey David" Colby suddenly interrupted, "What happened to the dog in the building when it was on fire?"
David looke confusion and then said "Yea what did happen to that dog? I completely forgot about him, being so wrapped with your recovery".
Colby continued "We need to find him. I really liked that dog and he did not take off the second he smelled smoke. Maybe not smart, but certainly loyal".
"Yea when I found you that dog was sitting next to you on the ground, like it was his job to guard you or something".
"Tomorrow I will call the paramedics on scene and the animal shelters to see if I can find him".
The next day Colby called the fire department and asked who had been on duty the night his apartment burned down. He was redirected to the 4th squad, and he talked to 5 others guys and 2 female firefighters before him found he found a guy who remembered the dog being picked up by animal control because he was a stray.
Colby then proceeded to call about 6 animal shelters, until he found one that had a German Shepard puppy brought in a couple hours after the fire, with minimal burns on the pads of his feet. "He recovered nicely" the vet said "and because he does not have a collar or a microchip and no one has come looking for him, he is available for foster". Colby grinned. Finally a piece of good news. I wonder how David will react if he comes home and finds a puppy here!
Seeing that was only noon, Colby hailed a cab. "The animal hospital on 2nd" he told the driver and proceeded to sit down and enjoy the ride. He had not been outside in about 3 weeks and the city looked more promising and brighter somehow. Probably because I am not chasing murderers down the streets he thought.
The cab pulled up to the curb and Colby feeling generous, tipped the taxi driver. He slowly pulled his broken leg out of the car and hopped into the animal shelter. The woman at the front desk looked a little surprised, but quickly reined in her expression and asked "What can I do for you today?"
Colby answered " I am here to see about fostering a puppy. I talked to a Carter on the phone who said you had a German Shepard puppy who was brought in about 3 weeks ago".
"Oh yes, We have been calling him Oliver and he is the sweetest puppy on the planet. Let's go see him before you make a final decision".
Colby followed her back to the dog pens and grinned when he saw the puppy who had sat with him on the basement floor. Apparently the puppy reminded him too as he ran to the front of the cage and tried to lick Colby through the bars.
Both Colby and the front desk lady laughed and while they walked down the desk to fill out the paperwork, Colby realized a slight flaw in his plan. He would not be allowed to take a dog back to the apartment in a taxi.
He signed as he pulled out his phone to call, David dreading his answer. "Sinclair" David answered and Colby said " hey man I need you to come get me" "I told you we needed to go your apartment together" "I am not an idiot David, I did not go back to that apartment. I… do not get too mad… I found that puppy who was guarding me that night and I am going to foster him".
David could not believe what was hearing. Granger, foster a puppy? But the more he thought about it the more sense it made. Colby probably did not want to go a new apartment without any of his stuff, all alone and he had talked about wanting a dog, but not having time.
David, not sounding as angry as Colby expected asked "Where are you?". Colby gave him the address and turned back to the forms the front desk lady was gently pushing in his direction. The forms were not very formal as fostering was not a permanent home, but they did want his home address. He hesitated and then put David's, figuring he could back later and change it, if he still had Oliver when he had a new place. He then signed about a million firms accepting responsibility for Oliver, promising to keep his cell phone with him at all times, so the hospital could get in touch with him, if Oliver's owners came looking for him.
Finally, they put Oliver on a leash and let him out of the cage. Only then did it occur to Colby that maybe he should wait for David so the puppy do not knock him to the ground with his crutches and burns and all.
So the front desk lady attached Oliver's leash to a hook on the wall and brought a chair over for Colby to sit on and wait for his ride.
David walked over to Don's desk and said "Hey Don. I need to go get Colby. He went to find that puppy who was guarding him the night his apartment burned down and he needs a ride". Don looked amused and said "I am coming too. This should be good". "Megan" he called. "We need to go rescue Granger and his new puppy". "Granger got a dog? Man life with him is always interesting!".
They walked to the car and drove to the animal hospital. They found Colby sitting on the floor next to his puppy, grinning and resembling a little kid on Christmas.
"Good to see you with a smile on your face again" said David as they walked up.
Colby looked up and seemed surprised to see his whole team standing there. Then he realized it had been a while since him had seen them and he gladly accepted Don's bro hug and Megan's kiss on the cheek.
"He is pretty cute" admired Megan.
"I don't care how cute he is, if he pees on my floor, I am bringing him back!" said David.
"Yea, about that David, the home address on file is yours, seeing as I don't have a place".
David, Megan and Don's smiles dimmed slightly as they were reminded of the fire, but Colby continued to pet his puppy and the grin on his face confirmed Don's earlier statement. Colby really did care more about people, or in this dogs, than he cared about material items.
"Okay, let's go, you crazy person. You could have at least asked before you went adopting a puppy" said David.
"Well, he is not officially mine yet. We are still waiting 60 days to see if his owners come back to get him, but I am personally fine with it if they just let me adopt him".
David, Megan and Don shook their heads as they walked back to the cars. They were driving to David's apartment until Megan reminded they needed to buy dog food and toys and such.
"Seriously, you really did not think this through did you, Granger?".
Colby shrugged, not really caring about David's insults today. They found puppy food, a bunch toys, a leash, a collar, and dog bowls. At the last second, Megan stuck a bow into the basket, causing Don to exclaim "Megan the puppy is a boy" to which Megan calmly replied " I am supporting non gender conforming clothes". "Megan, Oliver is a dog; he does not need clothes". Megan just smiled and gave the cashier some cash.
They arrived at David's apartment and dropped off all the extra stuff. Then Don said "Seeing as we already wasted a bunch of time today, should we go to Colby's old apartment? If we all go, it will not take very long".
Everyone looked at Colby, who avoided eye contact and David eventually asked "So, what do you think partner?"
Colby nodded and said "Only if Oliver comes too!" He attempted to make a joke, but his team saw through the facade and noticed the pain in his eyes. "Let's go before I lose my nerve" he continued.
Don, now feeling guilty for having suggested it, drove to the apartment and walked Oliver up the stairs, while Megan and David helped Colby hop up the stairs.
They finally reached the door and Colby just stood there and stared the remainings of his life. The hallway had been streaked with ash and the room beyond that was entirely collapsed. Nothing under the collapsed walls was worth saving. The team slowly followed Colby through the apartment, watching him pick up pieces of his life and slowly setting them down as he realized that nothing in his dining room could be saved.
They eventually picked their way to the bedroom, where Colby said in a hollow voice "Someone, look under the bed and see if you can find a box labeled photos".
Megan knelt down and pulled out a box of partially wet photos. "Some of those Colby, we might be able to dry out, but the rest are garbage".
"That is what I thought. Come on let's go, the rest of the stuff here isn't rest important. I can replace the furniture and everything when the insurance check comes in".
They walked back to the door and Colby stared at his burned, ash streaked apartment for another minute then he closed the door with a sense of finality and took a deep breath.
He turned and hopped down the stairs, stopping at the bottom and staring at Oliver.
"Well he handled that a lot better than I would have" said Don.
"Like you said, most of his important items are at the office and he does not need much else in terms of material items" said Megan.
"Okay let's go" David said as he walked up behind Colby. " We are leaving".
Megan whispered to Don "We need to talk to his army buddy again and make sure the photos are coming. I am sure those with make him feel better".
"Yea they just came to my apartment. I was not sure what to do with them or when to give them to him" said Don.
"Well go get them and meet us back at the apartment".
Don hailed a taxi and went to his apartment and grabbed the box on his living room table.
David and Megan were sitting at the dining room table, watching Colby sit on the couch with his new puppy leaning against his leg. Don finally walked through the door and noted the silence in the room.
He walked up to the coffee table and sat down in front of Colby, handing him the box. Colby looked up with sad but curious eyes. "I talked to a man you served with and we managed to find copies of most of the pictures your unit took on your tours".
Colby's eyes lit up and he pulled the tape off the top of the bow to find hundreds of faces staring back at him. He smiled as he shifted through the box, recognizing his old friends, his boss and the other units they had served with.
Then his eyes fell on the men who had died and he remembered all the bad parts of the war. Don seeing his reaction, gently pulled the box away from him and set it on the table.
"Are you okay? he asked.
"Yea" replied Colby. "The photos just reminded me of a story. We were searching warehouses for weapons and we had just entered one had a booby trapped door. This guy…" he reached over and pulled a photo out of the box " noticed a puppy sitting in the corner. The scene was so bizarre. We were looking for bombs in a country where people were constantly trying to kill us, but instead of a soldier trying to kill us, we find this little puppy, sitting in the middle of the fire, just staring at us. That is part of reason I liked Oliver so much. When my apartment caught on fire, I tried to walk out, but the floor collapsed and I fell to the basement. I must have blacked out or something, but when I woke up, Oliver was sitting there looking at me with those big black eyes. I was remembered of the time in Afghanistan and I was glad all those guys were safe in the US and people were not trying to kill us anymore".
Colby's voice faded and the team just sat there, with Colby staring at the photo and the team watching him, wondering what to say.
Oliver saved them before the silence lasted too long, barking at Colby to feed him. Colby's eyes lost the hunted looked and he made an effort to control his emotions.
"Oliver, David will have to feed you today, I am not moving".
David quickly stood to feed the puppy and Don and Megan started to make food in David's kitchen.
As Colby watched them, he thought about his friends in the military and then he thought about his team, how they have constantly supported him and never left him alone. They had not teased him, too much, about his new dog, and they had taken him back to his apartment. Just by being there, they had made the whole process a lot less painful and had reminded him he had other things to live for. He also knew his military buddies always had his back and would not let anyone kill him, but his team was more like his family and they cared about him in and out of the field.